Living in Vegas without forgetting Him
Living in Las Vegas has been an experience for me both good and bad. I’ve seen how this town can bring the worst out of a person. I’ve also seen how it’ll bring out the “supposed” best out of a person. When I say, “supposed”, I mean things are so superficial here people actually believe that they’re real.
I’ve seen people do things that they would have never thought of doing where they were originally from. And when I say “they”, I don’t exclude myself. The atmosphere around this town breeds a mentality where anything is prevalent. You see things that you’ll never see in any other city in the world. Desensitization of your sense of reality around you is the slow lure that governs this town which so many fall victims to.
People come up here with good intentions to start a new life. Some have even come up here to start up ministry, me being one of them. Things look really good on the outside but sometimes if you’re not careful you find yourself caught up in the web of illusion. You lose your sense of reality and get caught up with the false sense of security that rules this town.
You see I don’t talk about this as if I’m someone that has it all together and hasn’t been affected by all that I’ve written so far. I’m writing from my own personal experience. I have had the chance to cross so many people’s lives living here in Vegas. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. I’ve seen what people are capable of doing both good and bad. The funny thing, thinking about it, is with the many number of people that I’ve met I can’t think of any “friends” that I’ve found here. Yes, I have many acquaintances but I can only think of one true friend here that I’ve made throughout the 5 years I’ve been living here besides the ones I came up here with. And she’s moved out of state just recently.
The good thing about all of this is that you can always turn to God who is still loving and merciful and doesn’t give us what we deserve. I’ve read the scripture many times, which says that, were sin abound, grace much more abounds. And I read that scripture in a different light now. He does not have to put up with the filth, wickedness, and perversion that we’re capable and sometimes do but He still chooses to loves us.
I guess for lack of a better description, I loosely would quote that scripture. I’ve always known that He is merciful but basically would say, “With all of the wickedness in this city God’s grace abounds even more” as if it was the normal thing to do. I guess I’ve taken God’s grace and mercy for granted. Now that I’ve experienced His grace even more, I look at things in a different light with much more appreciation.
A lot of times, for some of us, because we’ve been saved so long we forget how it was just receiving Christ into your heart for the first time with the knowledge of knowing that He died for our sins and that without Him we were doomed to death. I guess being on the other side really caused me to see and appreciate all that He’s done for us.
I believe that God allowed us to go through what we went through for the sole purpose of embedding deep down inside His unwavering love for us. When everyone else said enough and even wrote us off God said I'm not finished yet. At the time is seemed as if God wasn't in control.. I would read the scripture where He talked about how all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose in Christ Jesus and would believe it but on the other hand say to myself, "How God? Things aren't going good." But He had plans otherwise. That's why it's "His purpose" and not ours. As contrary as it may seem at times, He does work all things for our good, according to His plans and purposes.
He doesn't forget about us and never gives up on us even when we give up on Him or even forget about Him. Remember all that He's done for you. "Remember all of His benefits." When He's brought us to the point of a deeper understanding of what He's done for us we can appreciate and remember all that He's done for us.
